Metal brake-shelf for cars.



J. W. GURRAN & A. P; PRENDERGAST.

METAL BRAKE SHELF FOR CARS.

APPLLUAIL-L.

FILLL' HAY 14, 1912 Patented Jam 28, 1912.

W] TNFfSES f/Qo- Pia-Eur GFFliQEQ JOHN w. commit, or NEWPORT, KENTUCKY, nun ALOIS P. ensue-semen or CINCINNATI, 01110.

METAL BRAKE-SHELF FOB CABS.

Specification of Letters latent.

Patented Jan. 2e, iota.

Application filed May 14, 1932. Serial as. 697,329.

To all whom it may concern: 1 1

Be it known that we, JDHN CURRAN, residing at Newport, in. the county-cf Campbell and State of Kent-ucky,and*Ar/o1s I".

""1: .lssgzfimnoasr, residing at Cincinnati, in the ets to the end wallet the car, the bolts pass ing from the inside oi the car through the end. wall, and an oak toot board was bolted to these brackets. A 'dog pivot casting is bolted to the foot board," on which the "dog is pivoted which engages the ratchet wheel secured to the brake staff. Thus a bracketequipment of the old type calls .ior two brackets, ten bolts, one dog castin r and one oak foot board. Frequently, the rake would be lifted either by the fouling of the brake chain, or by the lifting power exerted by the hrakemsn, which resulted in either raising the ratchet wheel entirely above and from engagement with the dog, or raising it. only a slight distance, which re sulted in. the having but partial en gag'einent with the ratchet, therebyproduo mg uneven Wear on the dog. The bolts on the brackets frequently become loose and unless immediately tightened, produce by their movement oblong holes in the car end Wall and in the oak foot board, thus making it almost impossible to tighten them up securely. It is frequently necessary to replace a bolt or bolts on the brake shelf on a car intransit and when the cars are loaded the contents mustbe handled before the broken or lost bolts can be replaced, as they extend through the end well, thus cars and their contents are badly delayed, which results in trouble and damage to the railroad.

The plfiectof our invention is to eliminate the ob ections above noted and produce a brake shelf which is cheap of manufacture and durable; and with these and minor ob jects in view our invention consists of the parts and combination of parts as will be fully pointed out.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation of the end of a car broken away, with our invention applied; Fig. 2 is a top plan ty of Hamilton and State of Ohio, both tics; of our brakeshelt attached to the end broken away; Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view vof Fig. :2; Fig. lis a vertical section of our shell, and Fig. '5 is a perspective view of the if with the brake stall, ratchet Wit {3631, o and guard in position. I

Uur eke shelf comprises one piece of bracket, which can be made ofpressed steel. or malleable iron, thus the shelf is self contained one-piece shelf.

Theshelf l is provided with a head 2 around. its outer edge extending above its top face to prevent the brakexnan slipping off. The head is rounded off at the top, so that there ma be no sharp corners or edges go catch the s oeof the brukeu'iauand trip 1m.

through the shelf, and 5 and 6 aredrift openings formed between the rear face of the shelf and bracket and the end wall Z of the .lation of cinders, snow, ice and rain on the shelf, thus reducing to a niinimun'i the liability of a brakeman slipping oil the shell.

The bracket 8 has pressed up portions 9 near each end and aninterlnediate pressed up portion 10, which constitute, respectively, a continuation of the drif openings 5 and 6. The intermediate pressed up portion also serves-as a spacing member between the ends of the bracket. These pressed up portions 9 and ilOalso stiffen the bracket and give more or less the effect of a brace under the shelf l, inasmuch as they are positioned in a vertical plane spaced from the vertical plane of the rear edge of the shelf.

11 the usual brake stall connected to the brake chains at itslower end and .pro Vidcd with the usual hand wheel 12 at. its upper end. This stall passes through an opening in the shelf 1 and is provided with a ratchetwheel 12 which is keyed thereto. In this connection, it will be noted that the outer edge of the shelf is swelled out at 13 opposite the ratchet Wheel so as to make ample room between the periphery of the wheel and the beadl2-for the foot of the brakeman, the distance being such that there is no liability of the foot being jammed and caught.

14 is a post having an enlarged 15 affording an increased bearing surtace,

right angle form forming the shelf and the 3 and at are drift openings extending car. These openings prevent the acoumu wall of a car, said wall being in section and -porti0n'l9 of the p .portion 20.

from which depends a rivet member 16 which passes through the shelf 1, whereby the post is securelyriveted to the shelf. The dog 17 is pivotally mounted on the post 14 and engages 'theratchet wheel 12,

said dog having the usual toe extension -18.

19 is a rectangular portion integral with post 14 terminating in a screw-threaded 21 is a strap having a central opening 22, through which the brake stafi' passes, one end of the strap having a rectangular opening constructed to receive the rectangular 0st 14 and secured thereon by the nut 23. The other end of thestrap 21 is deflected downwardly and secured to the shelf. The body of the strap 21' is positioned above the ratchet wheel.

12*, thus preventing the brake staff from being raised either by the brakeman or by the fouling of the brake chains, thus preventing the ratchetwheel from being elevated and wholly or'partially becoming dis;- engaged from the dog, thus reducing to a minimum the wear on both the do ratchet wheel. enlarged central portion .which hasa bearand The dog is formed with an ing between the annular flange 15 and the end of the strap 21, whereby itis'held in.

a horizontal position at all times, thus preventing its tooth from becoming canted with respect to the teeth of the ratchet wheel, whereby wear between the parts is reduced. The'annular flange 15 also serves as a spacing memberto space the'dog from the shelf, thus reducing friction besid'es preventing the dog from freezing to the shelf.

.The shelf is secured to the end wall of the car by two rivets 24. As stated above, many cars','both loaded and empty, are shopped for-the following defects, viz., split, worn and broken brake shelves, broken shelf brackets, missing and broken bolts, and when thecars are loaded the contents must be'handled to make the repairs, all of which results fre- All of thesequently in disastrous delays. defects and objections are eliminated by the use of our one-piece metal shelf. Of

course, our shelf might become damaged-in a collision or by .cornermg, but aslde from these, our one-piece metal shelf will last as long as the car to which .it is attached.

From the drawing, it will be seen that the contact between the end wall of the car and the shelf is limited to the comparatively small area presented by the surfaces marked 25, thus deterioration by reason' of shelf, an upstandin contact between the metal of shelf and i the end-wall of the car will be reduced to.

aminimum. i r

The guard strap 21 eliminates.. e use of the cotter in usually employedigto keep the brake. stali' place. 7 What we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is v i 1. A one-piece metal brake shelf com from rising and is far more, reliable, as the cotter pin 1s seldom 1n its A prising "a shelf and a bracket, the shelf having drift openings formed on its rear' edge, and the bracket having drift openbracket, said shelf having drift openings and a brake staff opening formed therethrough', and drift openings between the rear edge of the shelf andcar wall, an upstanding rib on the front and end edges of brake sta passing through said staff open and a post riveted on top of.

the shelf, the front edge ofthe shelf'bein I T swelled o posite'the brake staff opening, a:

ing in the shelf and provided with a ratchet wheel on top of the shelf, a post on the.

shelf, a dog pivotal-1y mounted on said post, a strap secured at one end on said post and atits other end to the shelf and provided.

with an opening through which theIsa-id staff passes, said bracket being; provided with driftopenings which register with the drift openings on the rear edge of the shelf. 4. A one-piece metal brake shelf compris- .ing ashelf and a bracket, said shelf having I drift openings and a brake staff opening, a

post on said shelf, and a strap secured at one end to said 0st and at its ,othe'r end to said shelf, said strap having a" brake staffopening registering with the brake staff opening-in te shelf.

In testimony whereof weatlixoursignatures in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN lV. CURRAN. ALOIS P. PRENDERGAST; \Vitnesses': A a f C. H. LAMPTON, B. H. G'RownR. 

